A Tent That Goes Up in 16 Seconds! I Love Germany’s Inflatable Heimplanet Cave So Much I Bought Three

Hi to everyone saying “This year I’m finally going camping!” — I’m Hide, tech journalist and part-time house-husband. I have a habit of buying anything I’ve never seen before, but this one was worth it! (Not a fail!) It’s an inflatable-frame tent called the Heimplanet Cave. A game-changing tent that cuts down on setup, which tends to pile up on family camping trips. The design is great too, so it’s guaranteed to stand out at the campsite!

Its sheer speed won me over

My camping style is “e-Camp.” Japanese campers might get mad at me, but it’s more like the Western style of “how comfortable can you be outdoors.” So not wanting to spend effort pitching a tent is what led me to this one.

I mean, 16 seconds! When you think about everything you have to do at the campsite, you don’t want to spend time on something as totally unproductive as pitching a tent (lol). I want to finish setting up as fast as possible and relax. For someone like me, this tent hit the spot.

A one-of-a-kind design — I love this kind of “e” design

You can tell when you look at it from above: the air frame is really carefully structured. The minimum material for maximum strength. It also has the wind resistance only an air frame can give. Honestly, it shows its full potential in the mountains or at high altitude rather than at a campsite.

Plenty of people probably think camping gear should look more rugged. But I actually love products and designs with mathematically calculated functionality like this.

Not great in Japan’s hot, humid summers

That said, it’s designed for places without humidity, so it struggles with Japan’s heat and humidity. Ventilation has improved compared to the early version, but if you’re using it in midsummer, it’s probably better to pitch it in the shade of a tree or under a tarp…

The ceiling is low too, so if you like a spacious interior, a single-pole tent might be better. That part might not suit Japanese tastes, but it has good points too, like packing down compact, so weigh that when deciding.

So many designs to want

The gorgeous design, which will absolutely win over people who like minimal designs like muraco, is another draw. The blue groundsheet on the regular model I bought first really bugged me, so I switched to the Black Edition. Then I bought the Black Cairo Camo Edition on top of that — I’m in deep in the Heimplanet ecosystem (lol).

For family camping, the larger Backdoor model has been super useful. It sleeps five and has a high ceiling, so it’s great for camping in Japan too. With entrances on the front and back, it lets air through even in humid summers — excellent. I prefer the Cave’s shape, but for actual use, the Backdoor might be the best.

## Not for everyone, but owning one gives you a kind of fun nothing else can

These inflatable-frame tents are incredibly fast to set up, but they’re not better at everything, and there are plenty of downsides. They’re surprisingly heavy, and folding them up for storage is a hassle…

But when it comes to “a comfortable space in 16 seconds,” nothing beats it, so I can recommend it to anyone who wants to experience that one thing. It’s seriously expensive at just under ¥800,000, but eventually I want to go all the way to the Mavericks... I’d love to plan a glamorous camping trip with an EcoFlow air conditioner and sleeping on air beds.

**Official site: Heimplanet

Questions, comments, or “please review this!” requests — send me a DM on Twitter. Author’s social media:** Instagram: Hide – Everyday life of a part-time house-husband @hidenori.kimura Twitter: Hide – Just a part-time house-husband @hidenorikimura YouTube: Shin Kimura Ke @rekimuras

This story was originally published (in Japanese) on Yahoo! News Japan Expert.